AAAHHHHHH!!! I just vacuumed up a dozen Gilbert & Blazny-Poure Departementale 2552 nibs! I knew that the vacuum had grabbed something, but I didn't realize that this was what I had sucked up until I saw my precious nibs being spit back out. I had to root through the vacuum cleaner to recover them all. Luckily most of them were basically fine. Two were slightly sprung and a couple had some finish removed, but were otherwise OK.
For those of you who do not know, these are very nice, very flexible nibs. They are not terribly expensive, but they are becoming much harder to find.
This will teach me to not thoroughly check the carpet before vacuuming. Has anyone else managed to do something stupid like this? Share your mishaps and make me feel a little less foolish.